Great Gap - A Pinch Space Story
Top Site Prologue Pinch Space: Think Space Opera without spaceships. “How could this be?” they ask in wonderment. Well, I’ve been toying with concepts in long distance, instantaneous matter transference. If you read any of my Pinch Space ideas back in the day you’re already getting the gist of it. Basically, through sifi smoke and mirrors, people can now transfer themselves from a KNOWN point A to a point B that is explored through observation. This means that the vastnesses of space and time are reduced to next-to-nothing once A and B have been fully explored. “How is this fun? Where are the pirates and zombies and robot tanks and stuff?” you’re asking. “Ah ha! I’ve already thought ahead and considered those finer points of story craft. A is known, B must be explored in successive, costly and dangerous waves. So, while we’re no longer talking about naval battles in space with laser wielding swashbucklers chopping up the solar sails, there’s still plenty of room for conflict and tension. Discovery: Explanatory exploration begins with exoplanet discovery and observation. Once we know planets are there, the most we can gain from this is: * The exact orbital mechanics of the planet * Foreknowledge of an atmosphere, but no details * Predictive understanding of the planet's suitability for habitation or terraforming Science can then use constants and observations to predict that a planet with being at x,y,z coordinates thousands of lightyears away. Exploration: The first limitation of this travel is that we can’t see the topography of an exoplanet. Consequently, we must go there to gain this information. Pinching space requires a yoked pilot to pass from A to B. Yoked pilots exist outside experienced space-time while they require a crap ton of gear and power to maintain this timeless existence that allows the projection. The procedure for gaining this information varies, but the idea remains essentially the same. Send a hardened explanatory survey crew to the new target to gather detailed surface information. Later they will transit back to their origin. Limitations on this process are abundant: * Pinching space requires huge amounts of energy and the more mass moved the more energy is required. * Origin locations have huge support and generation networks, but that infrastructure does not exist on the far exoplanet. * Additional complications such as the exoplanet’s suitability for habitation create additional challenges for exploration which delay or sometimes destroy the return trip to origin. When this happens the target planet’s exploration becomes stalled and may stop. * While the exploration mission is underway anything that changes the topography of the origin will impact the exploration crew’s return. Political unrest and competition for resources can damage or invalidate exploration. Development: Once a pinch site is known by an exploration team and that team is able to communicate that information back to its origin then the work of colonization can begin. Access to this information is critical to the development of an exoplanet. Why pay for the hard work of exploration if your state can slip a few colonists into a development team and develop a new site elsewhere on the new exoplanet? Critical Flaws: The fun part. Each of the new exoplanets represents room for expansion. Regardless of the suitability of the new planet, once the connection is established, a new exoplanet has value and anything that is inherently valuable will be fought over. * Sneaky path: as mentioned before the idea of waiting for another state or industrial agency to complete the more difficult, risky and expensive parts of connection process is one way of establishing a foothold on an exoplanet. Sneaking an agent into the colonial crew of an expanding power to scout a nearby pinch site would become a new kind of industrial espionage. * Military force: competing national entities seize resources on a target planet and then fight for ownership. Enmity from Earth and elsewhere can fuel these conflicts. It’s also noteworthy that the bigness of power and the concentrations of wealth necessary to pinch space-time would make big, long-lasting tyrants. * Islanding: What happens to people who pinch off where no one else is looking or wants to go? The biology of islanded communities becomes a plot in this pinched space. * Exo-counter: Imagine pinching into a thriving nest of aliens who all think you’d be a tasty addition to dinner. Not only are your heroes going to need to keep their drumsticks from the dinner table, they’ll need to keep their pinch technology a secret from the sug people of Zanka Zanzool. Plot Outline One POV: Salome, Author: Melissa, Add brief description Two POV: Skylar, Author: Victor, Add brief description Three Four Five Six Characters Captain Salome Jones Skylar Rysen Mwassaa Musyoka (Guild Pilot Tyro-2) Locations NB Fantastic Blindness Orbital Mining Station Ganges Shore